Prior to his congressional career, Jones served in the North Carolina National Guard, was the Manager of the Walter B. Jones Office Supply company and served as a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives.[2]

Based on analysis of multiple outside rankings, Jones is a more moderate right of center Republican Party vote. As a result, he may break with the Republican Party line more than his fellow members.

Biography

Jones was born in Farmville, North Carolina. He earned a B.A. from Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College) in 1966.[3]

Issues

Legislative actions

113th Congress

The second session of the 113th Congress enacted into law 114 out of the 3,036 introduced bills (3.8 percent). Comparatively, the 112th Congress had 4.2 percent of introduced bills enacted into law in the second session.[8] For more information pertaining to Jones's voting record in the 113th Congress, please see the below sections.[9]

National security

National Defense Authorization Act

Jones voted for HR 1960 - the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014. The bill passed the House on June 14, 2013, with a vote of 315 - 108. Both parties were somewhat divided on the vote.[10]

Department of Homeland Security Appropriations

Jones voted against HR 2217 - the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2014. The bill passed the House on June 6, 2013, with a vote of 245 - 182 that was largely along party lines.[11]

Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act

Jones voted against HR 624 - the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. The bill passed the House on April 18, 2013, with a vote of 288 - 127. The bill would allow federal intelligence agencies to share cybersecurity intelligence and information with private entities and utilities. The bill was largely supported by Republicans but divided the Democratic Party.[12]

Economy

2013 Farm Bill

In July 2013 the Republican controlled House narrowly passed a scaled-back version of the farm bill after stripping out the popular food-stamp program.[13][14] The bill passed on a 216-208 vote, with no Democrats voting in favor.[15] All but 12 Republicans supported the measure.[16] The group consisted mostly of conservative lawmakers more concerned about spending than farm subsidies.[16][17] Jones was one of the 12 who voted against the measure.[16]

The farm bill historically has included both billions in farm subsidies and billions in food stamps. Including both of the two massive programs has in the past helped win support from rural-state lawmakers and those representing big cities.[15] After the bill failed in the House in June 2013 amid opposition from rank-and-file Republicans, House leaders removed the food stamp portion in a bid to attract conservative support.[15]

The proposal was killed after being voted down in the U.S. Senate with a 40-59 vote.[19]

The proposal would have cut about $5 trillion over the next decade and aimed to balance the budget by the end of the 10-year period.[18] The 2013 bill had opposition from 10 Republicans — the same number that voted against it in 2012. In 2011 only four Republicans cast a vote in opposition.[18] Democrats have unanimously voted against the bill every year.[18]

Federal Statutory Pay Adjustment Elimination

Jones voted for HR 273 - Eliminates the 2013 Statutory Pay Adjustment for Federal Employees. The bill passed the House on February 15, 2013, with a vote of 261 - 154. The bill would prevent a 0.5% pay increase for all federal workers from taking effect, saving the federal government $11 billion over 10 years.[20]

Immigration

Morton Memos Enforcement Prohibition

Jones voted for House Amendment 136 - Prohibits the Enforcement of the Immigration Executive Order. The amendment was adopted by the House on June 6, 2013, with a vote of 224 - 201. The purpose of the amendment as stated on the official text is to "prohibit the use of funds to finalize, implement, administer, or enforce the Morton Memos." These memos would have granted administrative amnesty to certain illegal aliens residing in the United States.[21] The vote largely followed party lines.[22]

Healthcare

Health Care Reform Rules

Jones voted for House Amendment 450 - Requires Congressional Approval for Any Rules Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The amendment was adopted by the House on August 2, 2013, with a vote of 227-185. The amendment requires that all changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act be approved by Congress before taking effect. The vote was largely along party lines.[23]

Social issues

Abortion

Jones voted for HR 1797 - Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The resolution passed the House on June 18, 2013, with a vote of 228 - 196 that largely followed party lines. The purpose of the bill is to ban abortions that would take place 20 or more weeks after fertilization.[24]

Previous congressional sessions

Fiscal Cliff

Jones voted against the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was 1 of 151 Republicans that voted against the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257 - 167 vote on January 1, 2013.[25]

Committee removal controversy

In December 2012, Jones and David Schweikert (AZ) learned that they would not serve on the House Financial Services Committee in the 113th Congress. Their dismissal was part of the Republican Steering Commission's December purge of so-called "obstinate" team members.[26] Completing the quartet of alienated (or alienating, according to those who determined their dismissal), Republican Reps. Justin Amash (MI) and Tim Huelskamp (KS) lost their seats on the House Budget Committee. (Huelskamp was also relieved of his Agriculture Committee assignment).[27][28]

The decision to terminate the four Rep.'s committee assignments, spearheaded by House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), resonated powerfully with the increasingly divergent party ranks and the political media. Both a virtual anomaly, historically, and as a not-altogether-unexpected reaction to the tea party's storming of the GOP institution in 2010, the purge threw into harsh relief a context of internal conflict between affirming and ebbing institutional identity. Huelskamp called it a “typical Backroom deal,” of the sort the tea party targeted upon invasion as a symbol of the detachment of the GOP congressional establishment from the needs and problems of their constituencies. Many party insiders dispute the claims presented by Huelskamp and his spurned cohort that ideological differences played any role in their dismissal from the committees. Instead, the decision was the result of bad behavior on the part of three of the four, according to Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (GA), whose candid response to the event provided a headline-worthy insult byte that was quickly refined by a spokeswoman into what the mainstream press could call "the obstinate factor."[29] Huelskamp, for example, was not punished for voting against his colleagues on the budget, but for undermining his fellow team members through various social media postings, he says. Matt Kibbe, president of a Tea party group called Freedomworks, represents the position of those skeptical of Boehner and the party establishment's motivations: “This is a clear attempt on the part of Republican leadership to punish those in Washington who vote the way they promised their constituents they would — on principle — instead of mindlessly rubber-stamping trillion dollar deficits and the bankrupting of America.” [30] Westmoreland's comments were primarily in defense of the leadership's cause of removing difficult personalities from the equation, but his loyalty faltered on their treatment of Jones, whose own ideological dissent came from the left. “I love Walter Jones; he’s one of the nicest, most sincere, honest people up here,” Westmoreland said.[29]

Conservative Fight Club

According to the conservative website RedState, Jones is 1 of 16 U.S. House members in the "Conservative Fight Club", a designation meant to describe the gold standard of conservatives, as outlined by RedState. They are the 16 Republicans who voted against the continuing appropriations resolution to avoid the impending government shutdown in March. This type of resolution is used to fund government agencies when a formal federal budget has not been approved.[31]

According to a March 30, 2012, article from The Washington Post, that notes the top 10 incumbents who could lose their primaries, Jones was the 10th most likely incumbent to lose his primary.[18] The article notes Jones' record of voting against his party on major issues and competition in the primary from challenger former New Bern Police Chief Frank Palombo.[18]

On November 5, 1996, Walter B. Jones won re-election to the United States House. He defeated George Parrott (D) and Edward Downey (Natural Law) in the general election.[42]

U.S. House, North Carolina District 3, General Election, 1996

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Republican

Walter B. Jonesincumbent

62.7%

118,159

Democratic

George Parrott

36.5%

68,887

Natural Law

Edward Downey

0.8%

1,533

Total Votes

188,579

1994

On November 8, 1994, Walter B. Jones won election to the United States House. He defeated H. Martin Lancaster (D) in the general election.[43]

U.S. House, North Carolina District 3, General Election, 1994

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Republican

Walter B. Jones

52.7%

72,464

Democratic

H. Martin Lancaster

47.3%

65,013

Total Votes

137,477

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Jones is available dating back to 2000. Based on available campaign finance records, Jones raised a total of $5,199,592 during that time period. This information was last updated on May 16, 2013.[44]

Lifetime voting record

According to the website GovTrack, Jones missed 402 of 12,417 roll call votes, from Jan 1995 to Apr 2013, which is 3.2% of votes during that period. This is worse than the median of 2.2% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. [60]

Congressional staff salaries

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Jones paid his congressional staff a total of $1,079,272 in 2011. Overall, North Carolina ranked 7th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.[61]

Staff bonuses

According to an analysis by CNN, Jones was one of nearly 25 percent of House members who gave their staff bonuses in 2012. Jones's staff was given an apparent $40,916.66 in bonus money.[62]

Net worth

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Jones' net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $139,014 to $487,000. That averages to $313,007, which is lower than the average net worth of Republican House members in 2011 of $7,859,232. His average net worth increased by 39.42% from 2010.[63]

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Jones' net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $117,006 to $332,000. Averaging to a net worth of $224,503 which is lower than the average net worth of Republicans in 2010 of $7,561,133.[64]

National Journal vote ratings

2012

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Jones tied with one other member of the U.S. House of Representatives, ranking 180th in the liberal rankings among members of the U.S. House. He is one of 12 republicans who scored higher on the liberal ranking than they did on the conservative one.[65]

2011

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Jones ranked 179th in the liberal rankings among members of the U.S. House.[66]

Voting with party

June 2013

Jones voted with the Republican Party 76.5% of the time, which ranked 233rd among the 234 House Republican members as of June 2013.[67]